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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 1159.PDF
NOVEMBER R, 1917. is something to be duly thankful for—we should not like to know that we had fallen quite as low as Sicily, for example, where the market price for a dukedom was at one time, we believe, in the neigh- bourhood of twenty pounds. Apart, however, from the three noble orders and the higher orders of chivalry, there does not seem to be an honour or a distinction open to civilians which cannot be had for money. But now that the light of day has been thrown upon the unholy traffic it is permissible to hope that it will cease It is only a hope, because so long as there are political parties who depend more upon the machine than upon the merits of their politics they will want more money than they can raise by legitimate means, and the traffic in honours is too easy a way of raising the wind to be readily abandoned. If these things must be, why not create a few new orders and distinctions, each having its own fixed price, so that when a man is gazetted to any of them we may know he is merely a tuft- hunter and how much he has paid for the privilege of being able to call himself " Sir " or to sign his letters " Jampufi " without the trouble of prefixing his initials. It seems to us the idea has more than a passing merit. Everybody would be pleased. The Whips would get the money for their Parties ; the gaping aspirants would get their titles ; and the plain man in the street would no longer feel that an attempt was being made to delude him into the belief that Smith, the wealthy butterman, was really a bene- factor of his country and not a robber of the widow and the orphan. We commend the scheme to the earnest attention of the Party organisations. • • • " FLIGHT " being a journal with no The Moral pOiitics, we do not intend to elaborate Salford. tne political aspects of the recent election in Salford, which resulted in the return to Parliament of Mr. Ben Tillett, but there is a moral, apart altogether from politics, which the Government of the day will do well to ponder care- fully. There were five outstanding items in the programme of the successful candidate, and these were, in their order : Vigorous prosecution of the war. Better pay for soldiers and sailors and their dependants. More direct Government control of the necessaries of life. Anti-profiteering in food. Air-raid reprisals on a large scale. This platform enabled Mr. Tillett to carry the constituency in the face of the opposition of a candi- date backed by both the old Party organisations. True, it would appear that the Coalition might have made a happier choice in its candidate—it certainly seems to be a mistake to send an exponent of the " Oxford manner " to fight a working-class con- stituency. But after all is said and done, it stands out unequivocally that the electors of North Salford are not satisfied that the present Government is doing its best to carry out the programme which they have commissioned their new member to urge forward. And we may say that, unless our observa- tion is completely at fault, what North Salford has had an opportunity of expressing at the polls is the opinion of the whole country. We want to get on with the war and to see all the side-issues which take up so great a proportion of the time of the House and the Government relegated to their proper place until the main business of beating the Hun is finished with. We want to see an end made of profiteering in the necessities of the life of the people, though we are not altogether of one mind as to whether this can be best achieved by more direct Government control. Experience has shown us that Government control almost inevitably leads to a rise in prices, so that it cannot be regarded as an unmixed blessing. Above all—and this what touches us most-—the whole country is sick and tired of melodramatic promises while our civilian population is bombed from the air without any serious effort to hit back. As we have said in another place, the people are willing to accept all the risks of the game if only they are assured that the Germans are going through the same experiences, but there is a limit to their patience. It may be that Mr. Tillett will be able to enlighten the House in his own rough and ready fashion as to exactly what the working classes think of the tenderness with which the Hun and his cities seem to be regarded by our own powers that be. At least we trust so. AIR RAID DAMAGE. THE following are the detailed provisions of the new Govern- ment scheme of compensation for air raid damage :— r. (a) Owners of property in the United Kingdom of an aggregate value not exceeding ^500 will be compensated by the Government in respect of damage or destruction of any such property by the perils coverable by the Government aircraft and bombardment insurance policy, whether the property be insured under the Government insurance scheme or not so insured at the time of its damage or destruction. (b) Owners of insurable property in the United Kingdom of an aggregate value exceeding £500 will be compensated up to that amount without payment of premium provided that all value in excess of £500 is insured under the Government insurance scheme. 2. If the property of an owner is not fully insured under the Government insurance scheme, any claim under this com- pensation scheme, as Well as under any Government policy, will be subject to average in conformity with the terms and conditions of the Government aircraft insurance policy and the note thereto. 3. The total amount payable by the Government in respect of a claim will be discharged under any Government policy of insurance in force at the time of the damage up to the amount payable under such policy, and the balance, if any, will be discharged under this compensation scheme. 4. Owners of property may at their option insure the whole value of their property under the Government aircraft insurance scheme, but not by means of Post Office certi- ficates, which will not be issued in future. 5. Compensation will be limited to the actual damage done, having regard to the condition and value of the property at the time of the damage, and will be devoted to making-good the damage, subject to any conditions and exceptions which the Air-raid Compensation Committee may prescribe. 6. (a) In the case of uninsured property immediate notice must, when damage occurs, be given to the Air-raid Com- pensation Committee at Palmerston House, Old Broad Street, London, E.C. 2, or to their agents. (b) In the case of damage to property insured under the Government aircraft insurance scheme immediate notice must be given to the office through which the insurance was effected. 7. No compensation will be paid :—• (a) In respect of any loss recoverable under any insurance. (b) For money, securities, stamps, documents, manuscripts, or books of account. (c) For consequential loss or theft. (d) For any expenses incurred in preparing or supporting a claim on the Government. (e) For fees in connection with reinstatement of damaged property. (/) In the event of a claim being fraudulent in any respect. 8. In no circumstance will a refund of premium be made in respect of any insurance that may have been effected with the Government. 9. This scheme will take effect as from September 1st, 1917. 1159
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